Books by Valentino Catricalà
Art in The Age of Ubiquitous Media, 2022
The Special double number of VCS-Visual Cultural Studies Journal attempt to investigate situation... more The Special double number of VCS-Visual Cultural Studies Journal attempt to investigate situation of art and technology today in an age in which media are ubiquitous. Many international scholars will anlaysis these topics from artificial intelligence to NFT, from sound art to virtual reality, from browser art to blockchain. The number is opened by a Sean Cubitt essay, Art in the age of Apathy.
The Artist as Inventor. Investigating Media Technology Through Art, 2021
The development of robotics, artificial intelligence, genetics, and many other sectors, is puttin... more The development of robotics, artificial intelligence, genetics, and many other sectors, is putting a strain on our very idea of humanity. We look at technology development as a linear process that goes from technology to society, we think that it is technology that changes the world and we are passive to the processes of innovation.
The book aims to give a new approach to the study of media and technological development through the tools of art and media art studies. An approach that sees in the practice of artists a new engine, creator of contents and inventor of new technological tools that have often been subsequently placed on the market. An approach that combines art, technology and innovation.
Artists working with technology can be an engine not only for the contemporary art world but for society in general. Artists today work in a team with technicians and engineers, inside scientific departments, companies operating in the technological sector, or in their own studio-company and, in some cases, limited companies. This kind of artist is by no means outside the world but, on the contrary, works within real processes of technological and scientific innovation.
This attitude is not new. The intent of the book is to trace some fundamental moments in the history of the relationship between art, technology and innovation. From the avant-garde to Michael Naimark's experience at MIT in the late 1970s until the latest experiments with artificial intelligence, robotics and genetics.
Art and Technology in the Third Millennium. Landscapes and Protagonists, 2020
The reflection on the pervasiveness of technologies in society and in contemporary artistic pract... more The reflection on the pervasiveness of technologies in society and in contemporary artistic practices opens up multiple scenarios on our near future. Overcoming the classic dichotomy art + technology, the new areas of research are complex and full of implications: hyperintelligence; the posthuman between cyborg and anthropocene; the Expanded Internet Art; from reality extended to vide-ogame art; sound art; the artist as inventor. The second volume of the "I Quaderni della Collezione Farnesina" series is dedicated to identifying these new scenarios and identifying the new artistic trend, with particular attention to Italians whose first global mapping is carried out. Studying their work, understanding the disruptive potential of their lateral thinking, allows us to acquire essential reading tools of our hyper-technological society, even in the field of technology and science.
Il libro, a cura di Valentino Catricalà, L'intelligenza artificiale svolge una funzione cruciale ... more Il libro, a cura di Valentino Catricalà, L'intelligenza artificiale svolge una funzione cruciale nell'ecosistema culturale globale. Consiglia ciò che dovremmo vedere, ascoltare, leggere e acquistare. Decide quante persone vedranno i nostri contenuti condi-visi. Ci aiuta a prendere decisioni estetiche quando creiamo contenuti digitali. Nella produzione cultura-le, l'IA viene da tempo utilizzata per produrre trailer di film, album musicali, articoli di moda, design di prodotti e web, architettura ecc. Lev Manovich ci presenta un quadro si-stematico per aiutarci a pensare agli utilizzi culturali dell'IA attuali e futuri. E ci offre la possibilità analitica per comprendere i media, il design e l'estetica nell'era dell'IA.
Sopravvivenza programmata. Etiche e pratiche di conservazione dall'arte cinetica alla Net Art, 2020
This is the first attempt n Italy to deal with art & technology from the point of view of preserv... more This is the first attempt n Italy to deal with art & technology from the point of view of preservation. The most important international scholars, experts and artists are called to reflect on this very important topic.
The book include: Laura Barreca, Laura Calvi, Valentino Catricalà, Alice De Vecchi, Roberto Dipasquale, Ben Fino-Radin, Marialaura Ghidini, Oliver Grau, Jon Ippolito, Laura Leuzzi, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Alessandro Ludovico, Dorcas Muller, Stephen Partridge, Domenico Quaranta, Azalea Seratoni, Elaine Shemilt, Gaby Wijers.
Tutte le arti sono media, ma l'espressione " media art " è giunta ad avere un significato special... more Tutte le arti sono media, ma l'espressione " media art " è giunta ad avere un significato speciale. […] Oggi le media art non solo affrontano i grandi temi del nostro tempo. Esse risiedono negli stessi media di cui parlano. Il contemporaneo è globale, ma solo a causa dei media che rendono possibile la globalizzazione. Tali media non sono evidenti praticamente da nessuna parte nella pratica mainstream dell'arte che vediamo nelle biennali da Venezia a San Paolo. Gli artisti, invece, sempre di più sono cresciuti in un mondo di cambiamento costante, dove la TV è passata da essere un'emittente di stato a centinaia di canali in streaming. E gli spettatori sono passati da comunità radunate in grandi sale ad un coinvolgimento profondamente personale con uno schermo non più grande del palmo della tua mano e auricolari per proteggerti dalla distrazione di altre persone. […] Catricalà ci conduce verso questi strani incontri, introducendoci alle ricche eredità e al futuro delle più importanti arti degli ultimi cento anni. Ponendo una questione capitale: come possiamo diventare umani nella nuova costellazione in cui ora stiamo arrivando? Dalla prefazione di Sean Cubitt (Goldsmith, University of London).
As stated Oliver Grau, «Media art is the art form that uses the technologies that fundamentally c... more As stated Oliver Grau, «Media art is the art form that uses the technologies that fundamentally change our societies». In the Italian publishing system this book represent the first attempt that try to systematize the phenomenon of Media Art. The book is separated in three parts: Theories, Histories, Perspectives. The last part is dedicated to the exhibition "From Body to Mind. New Generations of Italian Media Artists" hosted in the Roma Media Art Festival which this book is strictly tied.
Articles by Valentino Catricalà
HyperInterfaces – HyperMedia. Artificial Intelligence beyond Anthropocentrism, 2022
Artificial intelligence today represents a constantly growing sector that is influencing a large ... more Artificial intelligence today represents a constantly growing sector that is influencing a large part of society. Our economy, our life, every our ehavior is influenced (or driven) by the introduction of new machine and deep learning mechanisms. If we look at the production of images, we realize we are entering in a new regime. The images are now increasingly constructed by machines whose processes and logics are inaccessible to the human, to quote the American artist Trevor Paglen: human eyes become “anachronistic”. An interface is no longer conceivable as a single “object”, rather it is a “hyperobject”, an intertwined network of media “distributed in time and space”.
Hyperinterfaces are no longer media that access information; they are the world, the humus, the atmosphere, in which we immerse ourselves, and, at the same time, they emerge and behave within a world made of organic materials, nature, minerals, plants and animals. Hyperinterface means
conceiving media as a hyperobject, namely, hypermedia. The text aim at investigating this new media condition beyond new media. The last chapter is dedicated to the work of the artist Hito Steyerl.
This article aims to respond to the lack of studies on the relationships between contemporary vis... more This article aims to respond to the lack of studies on the relationships between contemporary visual arts and VR, focusing on the role of "storytelling" and identifying what distinguishes VR art projects from other contemporary uses of VR, namely the criticism that they make of the VR medium itself. In the last five years, VR has developed a new language based on a specific visual grammar that has allowed for new forms of narration to arise. Visual artists have been attracted to VR in search of new modes of production and have exposed the negative impact of technology on our perception of reality, uncovering new mediated ways of seeing and distanced interaction with the world around us. The first part of the article will be dedicated to discussing Canadian artist Jon Rafman's View of Pariser Platz (2016) and American artist Jordan Wolfson's Real violence (2017), two of the first Oculus Rift-based art installations that developed a metalinguistic commentary on how VR, although promising immersion, produces, in fact, alienation, homogenization, brutalization and the loss of empathy. The article will continue with a discussion on the recent rise of tech companies that aim at producing contemporary artworks based on VR technology: Acute Art (London), Khora Contemporary (Copenhagen), and VIVE Arts (Taiwan). This is a new and expanding field that is changing the ontology of artmaking and redefining the artist's role, mainly in light of the cooperation with technicians and programmers.
Cinergie, 2021
This article aims to respond to the lack of studies on the relationships between contemporary vis... more This article aims to respond to the lack of studies on the relationships between contemporary visual arts and VR, focusing on the role of "storytelling" and identifying what distinguishes VR art projects from other contemporary uses of VR, namely the criticism that they make of the VR medium itself. In the last five years, VR has developed a new language based on a specific visual grammar that has allowed for new forms of narration to arise. Visual artists have been attracted to VR in search of new modes of production and have exposed the negative impact of technology on our perception of reality, uncovering new mediated ways of seeing and distanced interaction with the world around us. The first part of the article will be dedicated to discussing Canadian artist Jon Rafman's View of Pariser Platz (2016) and American artist Jordan Wolfson's Real violence (2017), two of the first Oculus Rift-based art installations that developed a metalinguistic commentary on how VR, although promising immersion, produces, in fact, alienation, homogenization, brutalization and the loss of empathy. The article will continue with a discussion on the recent rise of tech companies that aim at producing contemporary artworks based on VR technology: Acute Art (London), Khora Contemporary (Copenhagen), and VIVE Arts (Taiwan). This is a new and expanding field that is changing the ontology of artmaking and redefining the artist's role, mainly in light of the cooperation with technicians and programmers.
Sciami / Ricerche, 2020
Il saggio mira a indagare le pratiche artistiche legate agli ultimi sviluppi nell'intelligenza ar... more Il saggio mira a indagare le pratiche artistiche legate agli ultimi sviluppi nell'intelligenza artificiale. Da un lato, il saggio vuole mostrare come il ruolo degli artisti nei processi di sviluppo tecnologico non sia, né secondario, né marginale, ma che invece sia un motore per l’innovazione tecnologica. Dall'altro, l’idea dell’intelligenza artificiale è collegata a quelle pratiche che, piuttosto che sollevare acriticamente questi temi, cercano di investigare i significati, le nuove relazioni e le riflessioni aperte dall'avvento di queste aree.
Dopo una introduzione, il concetto di video arte sarà visto dal punto di vista dell’ultimo sviluppo dell'IA in modo da mostrare la natura polimorfa di tale concetto. L’analisi della pratica artistica sarà sviluppata non solo dal punto di vista della tecnica e dei linguaggi, ma anche dal punto di vista di una nuova tendenza, la quale, usando le tecnologie dell'IA, sta conducendo a una nuova visione ecologica: verso una visione postantropocentrica dell’essere umano.
The animation’s studies are still base on dichotomies such as fact/fiction, real/fake, natural/ar... more The animation’s studies are still base on dichotomies such as fact/fiction, real/fake, natural/artificial. Such dichotomies characterize the animation’s studies from the beginning, even before the emergence of the moving image. New concept are growing today which are undermining the aforementioned concepts: changes characterized by a technological and an anthropological shift.
The essay aim at apply a media archaeology approach to animation creating a link between the pre-cinema era to the current era. Tracing back and re-read the theories and the story of animation could help us to better understand the new media landscape we are about to live.
Oltre il corpo del cinema. Reti, virtualità, apparati
Archeocinema or Archeomedia? For long time scholars has analyzed the archeology of cinema from th... more Archeocinema or Archeomedia? For long time scholars has analyzed the archeology of cinema from the point of view of moving image: from photography to cinamtography. The 800 is a more complex Century. I try to show how the 800 Century is actually the born of different trends, beyond the moving image. The 800 is the century which has permitted the grow of a media system based on the notion of personalitation.
in “Imago. Rivista di studi sul cinema e i media”, 2013
Questo saggio cerca di indagare i rapporti tra arte, media e tecnologia all'interno delle esperie... more Questo saggio cerca di indagare i rapporti tra arte, media e tecnologia all'interno delle esperienze delle avanguardie storiche. Nonostante un tale rapporto sia potuto emergere solamente con lo sviluppo delle tecnologie elettroniche negli anni Sessanta e Settanta, occorre sottolineare come alcuni espliciti esempi di un tale atteggiamento siano ben riconducibili ad alcune singole esperienze delle avanguardie storiche.
L'esperienza delle avanguardie in rapporto alla tecnica e alla tecnologie sarà suddivisa in tre categorie: il classico ribaltamento delle tecniche e dei linguaggi dell'arte classica, l'utilizzo di tecnologie già immesse sul mercato a livello industriale (cinema, radio, fotografia), e l'avanguardia inventiva: alcuni singoli personaggi che attraverso la collaborazione con tecnici e ingegneri hanno inventato nuove macchine creando così delle nuove relazioni artistiche che si svilupperanno solamente dagli anni sessanta e che oggi pervadono il mondo dell'arte e del cinema. Tra questi spiccano per importanza l'optofono di Raoul Hausmann e la "visione elettromeccanica" di El Lisstzky. Un sguardo archeologico su fenomeni oggi sempre più consolidati: pensiamo allo sviluppo dell'arte tecnologica come le Digital Art, la Media Art, e per il cinema a termini sempre più popolari cime Digital Cinema, Software Cinema, ecc.
The purpose of this speech is to identify certain features of the current visual mediascape. Thes... more The purpose of this speech is to identify certain features of the current visual mediascape. These features may justify the need for a dynamic approach to archiving processes, which should be aimed not only at conservation, but also at promoting access to and reuse of materials, also in Media Art History.
TEORIA
This paper is an attempt to conceive the digital beyond the advent of the digital technology in a... more This paper is an attempt to conceive the digital beyond the advent of the digital technology in a more deeper and wider archaeological way. Trying to find the roots which has brought to the mathematization and the division of the image in numbers. The archaeological analysis is based on three different historical period: 1) the Max Bense “technological aesthetics”; 2) both the grown of a “media system” and the firsts attempts to divide and calculate the information in the Eighteen Century throught the insight of Edgar Allan Poe; 3) and the relationship between art and media in the avant-garde period characterized by the Raoul Hausmann’s Optophnone.
Si può parare di fantascienza nel cinema sperimentale? Possiamo identificare un genere fantascien... more Si può parare di fantascienza nel cinema sperimentale? Possiamo identificare un genere fantascientifico nel cinema sperimentale italiano come faremmo per il cinema più narrativo? Il punto focale attorno al quale ruta tale saggio è che il concetto di sperimentale nel cinema - a differenza della letteratura - è strettamente legato ai linguaggi e alle tecnologie con le quali facciamo cinema. Il cinema sperimentale, dunque, nonostante non sia veramente definibile e catalogabile all’interno dei consueti generi, proprio grazie a questo suo stretto rapporto con le possibilità aperte dal tecnologico, mantiene tuttavia una stretta relazione con la fantascienza, la quale non si determina attraverso categorie definibili (l’alieno, le astronavi, i pianeti) ma attraverso un “effetto fantascientifico” che si produce in base al diverso lavoro sui linguaggi. Un effetto, un’atmosfera che, più che determinarsi in figure e temi di genere, crea un ponte con quell’immaginario fantascientifico che troviamo anche nel filone del cinema commerciale ma che qui viene emanato mettendo l’accento non sulla produzione narrativa – in ogni caso non mancante – ma su di un lavoro con il linguaggio e le tecniche. E' in questa atmosfera, in questo "effetto" che si determina la fantascienza nel cinema sperimentale italiano.
Lev Manovich, Rasa Smite, Raitis Smits (eds), "Data Drift. Archiving Media and Data Art in 21st Century", «Acoustic Space», 14, 2015
This paper deals with the attempt to find a way to re-actualize the memory of Media Art in contem... more This paper deals with the attempt to find a way to re-actualize the memory of Media Art in contemporary society, focusing on audiovisual works. One of the most important problems in this field of studies is the recreation of Media Art histories in contemporary visual culture. Today we are seeing a big phenomenon of the reinvention of our cultural memory: a great image proliferation, with the emergence of big databases and online archives, that has permitted the possibility to use a big part of our cultural audiovisual heritage: toward an “ecology of images”. With the Web, for example, we are witnesses to an ongoing recreation of the audiovisual memory; always finding new connections between the elements in postings on social networks thanks to the possibilities of using and recycling archive material, thus creating a dynamic cultural memory.
The preservation and archivation practices have to confront these social changes. The archive can’t be anymore a mere depository of “things” but it must be a dynamic place for the recreation of memory.
Starting from a new reading of the concept of the archive and the importance of this concept today, we will try to find a way for recontextualizing the audiovisual Media Art histories, using the analysis tools from Media Archaeology, in particular in the study of the original content.
Analyzing the theories and practices of preservation and storage of audiovisual archival materials, we will propose a new way to conceive the role of the Media Art archive today in the artistic practices of the recycling of media and video art histories.
The travel of the light in the realm of audio-visual images. From film to videoart to computer an... more The travel of the light in the realm of audio-visual images. From film to videoart to computer and contemporary devices. The light as the primary element of the images producted by technology.
Book Chapters by Valentino Catricalà
Federico Biggio, Victoria Dos Santos, Gianmarco Thierry Giuliana (eds.), Meaning–Making in Extended Reality, Canterano (RM), Aracne, 2020
This paper aims to consider different forms of extended reality (virtual, augmented and mixed rea... more This paper aims to consider different forms of extended reality (virtual, augmented and mixed reality) as manifestations of “technologically modified self–centered worlds (Umwelte)”. Consequently, the problems of the subject’s presence into the world and that of the mutual world’s presence with respect to the subject, becomes central. From this perspective, we argue that different ex-tended reality technologies constitute different “modes of presence” for the user; and that these modes of presence, conceived as meaning effects, are linked to specific enunciative configurations implied by the hardware and implemented by the software of extended reality dispositives. The paper consists of two parts: the first one examines the development of various forms of extended reality and their uses in the art world, with a specific focus on Jakob Kundst Steensten’s work. The result of the first part is a reasoned classification of extended reality forms, which distinguishes between bystanding media (e.g. cinema), bystanding–immersive media (e.g. hypertexts, video games, and various forms of augmented reality), moderate immersive media (e.g. cinematic virtual reality) and radical immersive media (e.g. mixed reality). The second part analyzes various debates conducted in recent years on the concept of “presence” in the field of engineering and VR psychol-ogy, media studies, philosophy and semiotics. It then resumes the classification previously introduced in order to highlight how the modulation of different roles of co–enunciator entrusted to the user determines in each case different modes of presence in technologically modified self–centered worlds.
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Books by Valentino Catricalà
The book aims to give a new approach to the study of media and technological development through the tools of art and media art studies. An approach that sees in the practice of artists a new engine, creator of contents and inventor of new technological tools that have often been subsequently placed on the market. An approach that combines art, technology and innovation.
Artists working with technology can be an engine not only for the contemporary art world but for society in general. Artists today work in a team with technicians and engineers, inside scientific departments, companies operating in the technological sector, or in their own studio-company and, in some cases, limited companies. This kind of artist is by no means outside the world but, on the contrary, works within real processes of technological and scientific innovation.
This attitude is not new. The intent of the book is to trace some fundamental moments in the history of the relationship between art, technology and innovation. From the avant-garde to Michael Naimark's experience at MIT in the late 1970s until the latest experiments with artificial intelligence, robotics and genetics.
The book include: Laura Barreca, Laura Calvi, Valentino Catricalà, Alice De Vecchi, Roberto Dipasquale, Ben Fino-Radin, Marialaura Ghidini, Oliver Grau, Jon Ippolito, Laura Leuzzi, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Alessandro Ludovico, Dorcas Muller, Stephen Partridge, Domenico Quaranta, Azalea Seratoni, Elaine Shemilt, Gaby Wijers.
Articles by Valentino Catricalà
Hyperinterfaces are no longer media that access information; they are the world, the humus, the atmosphere, in which we immerse ourselves, and, at the same time, they emerge and behave within a world made of organic materials, nature, minerals, plants and animals. Hyperinterface means
conceiving media as a hyperobject, namely, hypermedia. The text aim at investigating this new media condition beyond new media. The last chapter is dedicated to the work of the artist Hito Steyerl.
Dopo una introduzione, il concetto di video arte sarà visto dal punto di vista dell’ultimo sviluppo dell'IA in modo da mostrare la natura polimorfa di tale concetto. L’analisi della pratica artistica sarà sviluppata non solo dal punto di vista della tecnica e dei linguaggi, ma anche dal punto di vista di una nuova tendenza, la quale, usando le tecnologie dell'IA, sta conducendo a una nuova visione ecologica: verso una visione postantropocentrica dell’essere umano.
The essay aim at apply a media archaeology approach to animation creating a link between the pre-cinema era to the current era. Tracing back and re-read the theories and the story of animation could help us to better understand the new media landscape we are about to live.
L'esperienza delle avanguardie in rapporto alla tecnica e alla tecnologie sarà suddivisa in tre categorie: il classico ribaltamento delle tecniche e dei linguaggi dell'arte classica, l'utilizzo di tecnologie già immesse sul mercato a livello industriale (cinema, radio, fotografia), e l'avanguardia inventiva: alcuni singoli personaggi che attraverso la collaborazione con tecnici e ingegneri hanno inventato nuove macchine creando così delle nuove relazioni artistiche che si svilupperanno solamente dagli anni sessanta e che oggi pervadono il mondo dell'arte e del cinema. Tra questi spiccano per importanza l'optofono di Raoul Hausmann e la "visione elettromeccanica" di El Lisstzky. Un sguardo archeologico su fenomeni oggi sempre più consolidati: pensiamo allo sviluppo dell'arte tecnologica come le Digital Art, la Media Art, e per il cinema a termini sempre più popolari cime Digital Cinema, Software Cinema, ecc.
The preservation and archivation practices have to confront these social changes. The archive can’t be anymore a mere depository of “things” but it must be a dynamic place for the recreation of memory.
Starting from a new reading of the concept of the archive and the importance of this concept today, we will try to find a way for recontextualizing the audiovisual Media Art histories, using the analysis tools from Media Archaeology, in particular in the study of the original content.
Analyzing the theories and practices of preservation and storage of audiovisual archival materials, we will propose a new way to conceive the role of the Media Art archive today in the artistic practices of the recycling of media and video art histories.
Book Chapters by Valentino Catricalà
The book aims to give a new approach to the study of media and technological development through the tools of art and media art studies. An approach that sees in the practice of artists a new engine, creator of contents and inventor of new technological tools that have often been subsequently placed on the market. An approach that combines art, technology and innovation.
Artists working with technology can be an engine not only for the contemporary art world but for society in general. Artists today work in a team with technicians and engineers, inside scientific departments, companies operating in the technological sector, or in their own studio-company and, in some cases, limited companies. This kind of artist is by no means outside the world but, on the contrary, works within real processes of technological and scientific innovation.
This attitude is not new. The intent of the book is to trace some fundamental moments in the history of the relationship between art, technology and innovation. From the avant-garde to Michael Naimark's experience at MIT in the late 1970s until the latest experiments with artificial intelligence, robotics and genetics.
The book include: Laura Barreca, Laura Calvi, Valentino Catricalà, Alice De Vecchi, Roberto Dipasquale, Ben Fino-Radin, Marialaura Ghidini, Oliver Grau, Jon Ippolito, Laura Leuzzi, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, Alessandro Ludovico, Dorcas Muller, Stephen Partridge, Domenico Quaranta, Azalea Seratoni, Elaine Shemilt, Gaby Wijers.
Hyperinterfaces are no longer media that access information; they are the world, the humus, the atmosphere, in which we immerse ourselves, and, at the same time, they emerge and behave within a world made of organic materials, nature, minerals, plants and animals. Hyperinterface means
conceiving media as a hyperobject, namely, hypermedia. The text aim at investigating this new media condition beyond new media. The last chapter is dedicated to the work of the artist Hito Steyerl.
Dopo una introduzione, il concetto di video arte sarà visto dal punto di vista dell’ultimo sviluppo dell'IA in modo da mostrare la natura polimorfa di tale concetto. L’analisi della pratica artistica sarà sviluppata non solo dal punto di vista della tecnica e dei linguaggi, ma anche dal punto di vista di una nuova tendenza, la quale, usando le tecnologie dell'IA, sta conducendo a una nuova visione ecologica: verso una visione postantropocentrica dell’essere umano.
The essay aim at apply a media archaeology approach to animation creating a link between the pre-cinema era to the current era. Tracing back and re-read the theories and the story of animation could help us to better understand the new media landscape we are about to live.
L'esperienza delle avanguardie in rapporto alla tecnica e alla tecnologie sarà suddivisa in tre categorie: il classico ribaltamento delle tecniche e dei linguaggi dell'arte classica, l'utilizzo di tecnologie già immesse sul mercato a livello industriale (cinema, radio, fotografia), e l'avanguardia inventiva: alcuni singoli personaggi che attraverso la collaborazione con tecnici e ingegneri hanno inventato nuove macchine creando così delle nuove relazioni artistiche che si svilupperanno solamente dagli anni sessanta e che oggi pervadono il mondo dell'arte e del cinema. Tra questi spiccano per importanza l'optofono di Raoul Hausmann e la "visione elettromeccanica" di El Lisstzky. Un sguardo archeologico su fenomeni oggi sempre più consolidati: pensiamo allo sviluppo dell'arte tecnologica come le Digital Art, la Media Art, e per il cinema a termini sempre più popolari cime Digital Cinema, Software Cinema, ecc.
The preservation and archivation practices have to confront these social changes. The archive can’t be anymore a mere depository of “things” but it must be a dynamic place for the recreation of memory.
Starting from a new reading of the concept of the archive and the importance of this concept today, we will try to find a way for recontextualizing the audiovisual Media Art histories, using the analysis tools from Media Archaeology, in particular in the study of the original content.
Analyzing the theories and practices of preservation and storage of audiovisual archival materials, we will propose a new way to conceive the role of the Media Art archive today in the artistic practices of the recycling of media and video art histories.
The essay attempt to analyze the born of the ambiguity of the image through to different point of view: both artistic and documentary. The artistic point of view is represented by Anton Giulio Bragaglia and the documetary one by Gilbreth. This two point of views are connected and always interchanging.
Il saggio introduttivo alla "Cronologia della videoarte italiana 1952-1992" prendendo come pretesto tale cronologia cerca di indagare i vari livelli di complessità che rendono possibile una sistematizzazione temporale della storia: tirandone fuori tutte le problematicità e allo stesso tempo tutto il fascino. Spiega inoltre le modalità sulle quali si è basato il lavoro di compilazione.
Italian:
Il saggio è un tentativo di ritrovare un'archeologia della attuale sfera pubbica partecipativa all'interno dell'utilizzo artistico delle tecnologie elettroniche negli anni Settanta. Attreverso l'analisi delle maggiori teorie sulla sfera pubblica (Habermas, Sennet, Kluge e Negt, Arendt) e attraverso l'utilizzo della Media Archeaology, si analizzano quelle particolari esperienze artistiche che hanno puntato su una diversa idea di sfera pubblica, molto più partecipativa e agente, resa possibile anche da un certo utilizzo delle tecnologie elettroniche della comunicazione che in quegli anni emergevano. Esperienze che fanno da sfondo agli attuali UGC, UGM, ecc.
Era il 1941 quando Isaac Asimov, su basi cartesiane, scriveva queste frasi formulate da un robot, personaggio del racconto Reason2. Anni, questi, di sviluppo di alcuni ambiti fondamentali per la nostra attualità, quali l’intelligenza artificiale, la robotica, la genetica, la medicina chirurgica. Ambiti che possono sembrare in apparenza lontani ma che nascondono una base comune: la messa in discussione del nostro concetto di “specie umana”, la riformulazione di principi fondamentali sui quali abbiamo basato la nostra idea di umanità.
With an emphasis on video installation, he has manifested a new attitude towards this medium, emphasizing and radically subverting the use of sound and visual-architectonic reconfigurations that always reinvents itself. A totally new, alien perspective.
Puppi conceives of his work as authentic “works in regress”, which come into being after a long period of gestation spent inside the spaces. The artist experiences the environment and establishes an almost carnal relationship with it, assessing its limits and its potential.
Frank B. Gilbreth utilizzò la fotografia e la ripresa cinematografica come “studio sui movimenti” per l’ottimizzazione e la velocizzazione della produzione industriale in linea con le teorie tayloriste dell’epoca. Tali esperimenti li chiamò rispettivamente “ciclografie” e “cronociclografie”.
L’elemento interessante dell’esperienza di Gilbreth è il fatto che se i filmati degli operai non raggiungono alcun tipo di interesse all’infuori di quello documentario, le fotografie, invece, ottenute con la tecnica dell’obbiettivo aperto in modo da captare un lasso di tempo-movimento più lungo, acquisiscono invece un interesse che va al di là di quello puramente documentativo e analitico: esse risultano essere – come definite da molti studiosi – dei piccoli capolavori estetici. Con l’intento di un utilizzo prettamente documentativo, le fotografie divengono delle piccole opere d’arte, con giochi di luce e di movimenti al limite dell’astrattismo.
Un livello estetico che Anton Giulio Bragaglia, invece, cerca di raggiungere intenzionalmente sempre con la stessa tecnica: attraverso la cattura del movimento con l’otturatore tenuto aperto più del dovuto. Le esperienze di Bragaglia sono ormai famose, soprattutto grazie alla pubblicazione dell’importante saggio del 1911, sempre di Bragaglia, dal titolo Fotodinamismo futurista. L’intento esplicito di porre dei personaggi davanti all’obiettivo per creare l’effetto del movimento – inchinarsi, dondolare la testa, ecc. – avvicina i personaggi di Bragaglia a delle cavie da laboratorio creando un’atmosfera più sperimentale che estetica: opere che spesso non raggiungono il livello estetico di quelle di Gilbreth.
E’ proprio questo l’interesse che porta questo paragone. Il ribaltamento che permette la fotografica in quanto strumento tecnologico di riproduzione: dall’estetico al laboratoriale (Bragaglia) e dall’industriale all’estetico (Gilbreth).